These new security features come as part of Uber's pledge to increase quality and security of the taxi rides for passengers following legal controversy in India and an alleged rape involving an Uber driver.

"At the moment these two new in-app features are available across all 11 cities in India where Uber is available," said Karun Arya, the company's communication lead for South Asia. "We don't have any update at this point on which cities, countries or a timeframe for rollout elsewhere. But stay tuned for updates."

While these safety features are fresh additions to Uber's interface, taxi-hailing apps such as Asia-based Grabtaxi offered similar safety notification services long before Uber's implementation.

Uber's new Send Status is intended to keep your friends and family aware of your commute. This function fires off your trip details -- such as the driver's name, vehicle license number and current location of the taxi -- to five preassigned contacts, at your discretion.

Uber

Send Status replaces the previous Share my ETA feature, and does not incur SMS fees when used. The pre-selected contacts will receive an Uber URL that provides a live-tracking of the passenger's status as they make their way around town.